Beginning on March 1st, 2025, make a pledge to walk 3 miles each day (or the equivalent amount of steps using a fitness tracker), to honor the effort that many people make to collect water for everyday use. According to Water Mission, a charity that helps support Walk for Water events, “millions of women and children worldwide walk more than three miles to collect water for their families. The only available water is often contaminated, exposing their families to dangerous waterborne diseases.” While it’s easy for those living in developed countries to simply turn on the tap, this is not the situation for over two billion people worldwide. Near the end of March, many cities host public walk/run events to highlight the Walk for Water. See if a city near you is hosting an event, or start an event of your own!
In March of 2024, Stream Smart: A Rogue Basin Clean Water Project, Rogue Valley Sewer Services, and the Rogue Drinking Water Partnership hosted a Worldwide Walk for Water along the Bear Creek Greenway. For this event, Crater Land Lab students walked from their classroom off of Upton Road, along the Bear Creek Greenway, and down to the Pine Street Greenway entrance. Students carried with them a gallon of water, watered pollinator plants in a garden area, and then walked back to the classroom with their gallon jugs, completing a 3-mile loop. This was a successful event that highlighted the need for water, the time it takes to retrieve it, and the discomfort in carrying the weight of water for miles. As a way to acknowledge this necessary burden for many, please consider making that pledge to walk in March!
